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3 pacers shatter 7-minute barrier

More than 330 runners and approximately 500 fans crowded the back lot at the Bartlesville Mid-High to celebrate last Thursday’s ongoing Bruin Mile tradition.

The competitors consisted of local elementary school students, many of who got their first taste at running or walking/running a mile in competition.

The younger participants (third grade and younger) completed a half-mile course, while the fourth and fifth graders covered the entire mile on part of the course used by the Bartlesville High School cross country team.

Members of that team put on the race and a few accompanied the young runners during their ordeal.

‘‘I was very impressed with the turnout and parental support,” said Bartlesville head cross country coach David Ayres, who presided for the event. ‘‘Our cross country runners love to give back to the community and encourage young runners. We like to partner with the PE (physical education) teachers to promote healthy living and ‘runners-for-life.’”

Ayres praised the support of all area schools.

He also expressed appreciation to the volunteers, who were parents of high school cross country runners.

He singled out Mike Barnes and Boomer Holtz as especially worthy of kudos.

All the volunteers ‘‘did an awesome job,” Ayres summarized.

‘‘I think everyone had a great time,” he continued. ‘‘We got to see a lot of awesome young running talent. The future of cross country in Bartlesville looks very bright.”

Ayres said he also wanted to thank Arvest Bank for paying for the medals and for sponsoring for the past four years the event.

In the fourth-fifth grade boys race, James Boudreaux led a group of 103 boys that completed the mile.

A Ranch Heights School student, Boudreaux shot across the finish line in 6:41.

Classmate Jakob Hamamck was next at 6:56.

Rounding out the top three was Wayside School’s Gaberial Ontiveros, who also broke seven minutes, with a time of 6:57.

Twenty-eight runners finished the test in less than eight minutes, while three more came in under 7:10 — Trent Horinek (Wayside, 7:05), Max Williams (St. John, 7:06) and Ryan King (Hoover, 7:07).

Following are results for the fourth-fifth grade boys run. The third-and-under results were published Sunday. The fourth-fifth grade girls results will be printed later in the week.